BYU vs. Utah State postgame notes & quotes
BYU vs. Utah State box score
BYU vs. Utah State photo album

PROVO, Utah – With a last-second put-back shot by Craig Cusick, the BYU men’s basketball team secured a 70-68 victory over Utah State at the Marriott Center on Tuesday night.

After the Cougars held an 11-point lead to start the second half, the Aggies (18-7, 9-5 WAC) fought back to tie the game with 57 seconds remaining. With BYU in posession for the final seconds, a missed shot attempt bounced off the rim but Cusick was there to grab the rebound and sink the game-winning shot for the Cougars with 0.2 seconds on the clock (20-8, 9-4 WCC).

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Tyler Haws led all scorers with 27 points while shooting 12 of 14 from the line. Joining Haws in double figures were Brandon Davies and Brock Zylstra, each with 10. Davies was a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line and also grabbed four boards.

Zylstra brought the home crowd to its feet with a dunk at the start of the game, giving the Cougars a 9-7 lead just over four minute into the game. Jarred Shaw scored the first seven points for the Aggies, including a game-opening breakaway dunk.

Utah State knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to take its first lead, 14-13, since the initial minute of the game. Matt Carlino matched the shot and added another to put the Cougars back on top with 10:21 remaining in the first half.

Carlino’s basket kicked off a 10-1 BYU run to extend the Cougars’ lead to 25-15 with under eight minutes to play in the half. Utah State ended the run with its first basket in three minutes.

A 3-pointer and trip to the charity stripe helped the Aggies cut the margin to five with 4:38 on the clock but it would be the closest Utah State came the rest of the half. BYU and Utah State exchanged buckets over the next few minutes while the Cougars stayed ahead. BYU led 41-32 at the half.

After scoring 17 points before the break, Haws kicked off the second half with a jumper for a double-digit BYU lead. The teams traded scores until the Aggies’ Ben Clifford sparked eight unanswered points that included four free throws, cutting BYU’s lead to two at 50-48 with 11:38 remaining.

Haws hit a pair of corner jump shots to shut down the run and give life to the Cougars. With just under 10 minutes on the clock, two Carlino free throws pushed BYU back up by seven.

A steal by Zylstra led to a driving layup by Carlino for the 60-51 lead but Utah State drained a three to answer the 8-2 Cougar run. A second banked shot moved the Aggies within four with 6:51 on the clock.

Driving to the basket at the four-minute-mark, Utah State’s Spencer Butterfield moved the score to 64-62 but Davies’ hit four free throws in the next two minutes to move the mark back up to five.

With 57 seconds to play, the Aggies sunk a trey and two free throws to tie the contest at 68.  Cusick went on to win the game, 70-68.

The Cougars next travel to Saint Mary’s on Feb. 21 for an 8 p.m. PST tipoff. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM.

Game notes: BYU vs. Utah State

BYU will take a one-game break from WCC play when it hosts Utah State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MST in the Marriott Center. The game will be broadcast on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM and televised on BYUtv.

BYU Cougars (19-8, 9-4 WCC)

• Head Coach: Dave Rose
• Alma Mater: Houston, 1983
• Division I Career Record: 204-62 (8th)
• Record at BYU: Same

Utah State (18-6, 9-5 WCC)

• Head Coach: Stew Morrill
• Alma Mater: Gonzaga, 1974
• Division I Career Record: 560-247 (26th)
• Record at Utah State: 342-109 (14th)

Player and team notes

• Dave Rose earned his 200th career victory with a 74-57 win over San Diego on Jan. 19, 2013. Stan Watts is the only other coach in BYU history with 200-plus wins. Watts won his 200th game during his 12th season at the helm on Feb. 2, 1961 at New Mexico. It was his 329th career game (Watts’ career record was 371-254 in 23 seasons). Rose is in his eighth season and earned win number 200 in his 259th game.
• Tyler Haws has scored 20-plus points 18 times this season. He opened the year with six-straight 20-point games and later had a streak of seven-consecutive 20-point games.
• Matt Carlino has scored in double figures in 12 of 13 WCC games. During that stretch he is averaging 15.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.8 steals. His assist to turnover ratio during that time is 2.1 to 1.
• BYU has completed four comebacks after trailing at the half this season. The Cougars trailed Utah and San Francisco by nine at the half and won 61-58 and 80-76. BYU trailed Pepperdine by five at the half at home and came back to win 76-51. The Cougars trailed at Pepperdine 31-20 but bounced back in the second half to win 63-61.
• BYU shot a season-best .596 from the field against Portland on Feb. 16, surpassing the .583 the Cougars shot at home against Santa Clara on Feb. 2. BYU has shot .500 of better 12 times this season and is 11-1 in those games. The Cougars also had 26 assists against the Pilots, one off the season high of 27 set against Eastern New Mexico. BYU did set a season best with a 3.3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio against Portland.
• BYU has been a better shooting team since starting league play. The Cougars are shooting better from the field (.479 in WCC play to .450 in nonconference games) and from three (.369 to .315). BYU has also shown big improvements in the steals category, increasing its per game average from 8.4 per game in non-league games to 9.4 per game in WCC games. At 8.9 steals per game in all games, the Cougars are on pace to set the program record for steals per game and steals in a season.
• Tyler Haws has shot 100 percent from the line while attempting at least 10 free throws in three games this season, tied with Russell Larson (1993-94) and Ken Roberts (1994-95) for most perfect days from the line (minimum of 10 attempts). Haws has four such games in his career, tied for the most in BYU history with Jimmer Fredette. Danny Ainge, Lee Cummard, Larson and Roberts are tied for second on the career list with three.